Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #2 Review

Pacific Rim fans will be eager for some more Kaiju action. Welcome Godzilla #2, where we not only have humanity fighting the Kaiju, but the Kaiju fighting each other as well.

This comic opens with Kaiju on Kaiju crime, as we see Godzilla taking on a Zilla. Yes, the one from the 1998 film. IDW have listened to the readers complaints about fights being kept too short, so in this Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #2 you are treated to 10 opening pages of rampaging monsters mauling one another before you even see one human! Make no mistake about it the fight continues throughout the majority of this issue.

It is in actual fact the human characters that dim this issue down. Monsters battle each other using their different abilities whist destroying their surroundings, then the sudden switch back to the focus on human characters follows. Immediately you find yourself reading through the introduction to the new female lead Lucy and a history lesson about of Steven Woods at a blistering pace as to get back to the fight between Godzilla and Zilla. You get to see just how personal Woods’ battles with the Kaiju have become, especially when it comes to Godzilla.

The closing of the book places more of a focus on Lucy and her introduction to Prof. Kenji Ando’s Kaiju investigation team. You are given a quick introduction to each member of the group. Each representing a different stereotype: The freckley ginger, the overtly muscular African-American, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo looking lesbian, the happy-go-lucky busty blonde and the nerdy camera man.

Matt Franks art really manages to capture the essence of both Godzilla and Zilla. The fights flow well and great attention is paid to the detail on the two Kaiju. The way in which he draws the creatures actually allows you to read their thoughts purely from their expression. Zilla really stands out in this issue, even more than Godzilla does. The humans, on the other hand, seem too cartoony and do not mesh well with the great drawings of the Kaiju and their epic battle. Ironically, it is the human facial expressions that lose you in this comic, as they are just so overt and annoying.

This issue is a great for a newcomer, even though it is issue 2 of the new series. The epic battle is enough to serve as a great introduction to this new run in the Godzilla series. Although the story in this issue may seem a bit bland, thanks to humanity, the mention of giant robots used for battling monsters makes this title seem promising.